A looming half-million-dollar campaign-finance fine against a Colorado political committee has caused a stir in the secretary of state race.

The fine — currently $528,500 — is pending against the Colorado Independent Auto Dealers Association political committee because it did not file required reports for a nearly three-year period beginning in early 2008.

For much of that time, the committee’s registered agent was Scott Gessler, the Republican candidate for secretary of state.

Gessler, a lawyer who specializes in election issues, said he couldn’t talk about the reasons for the delinquent filings because of attorney-client confidentiality.

A request for a fine waiver that the association sent to the secretary of state’s office doesn’t blame Gessler for the errors. Instead, the request describes internal chaos and alleged financial malfeasance by a bookkeeping contractor as the causes.

The request says the contractor stopped paying Gessler’s firm to be the registered agent in late 2006 or early 2007, though Gessler’s name remained on official paperwork.

The association rehired Gessler this year, and Mario Nicolais, an attorney at Gessler’s firm, has since taken over as the group’s official registered agent.

“CIADA sincerely regrets its failure to comply with filing requirements,” Gary Zimmerman, the group’s new executive director, wrote in the waiver request.

Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, a Democrat who is running against Gessler, said he doesn’t get involved in deciding fine waivers, to avoid potential conflicts of interest. He said the case shows why campaign-finance reporting needs to be taken seriously.

“It’s a serious transgression,” Buescher said. “That’s why the legislature wrote a statute that imposes fines.”

Secretary of state officials sent dozens of letters and invoices to Gessler’s office since the start of 2008 notifying him of the overdue filings and fines. It wasn’t until last month that the committee, through Nicolais, filed its late reports.

Those reports show the committee collected more than $20,000 in contributions during the period. State records reveal that the committee made more than $12,000 in contributions during that time to candidates and other political groups.

Gessler said the size of the fine reinforces his argument that the campaign-finance system is set up as a “gotcha” to overcharge groups for clerical lapses.

“The penalties oftentimes end up being exceedingly disproportionate,” he said.

Buescher and Gessler have stumbled in filings for their secretary of state campaigns.

Buescher filed a report one day late last month and paid a $50 fine. He said a computer hiccup delayed the filing.

Gessler blamed computer and clerical errors for the $250 in fines his campaign has been hit with. A $200 fine was subsequently waived, and he said he believed the remaining $50 fine would be as well.

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